History of Simon Cephas, Chief of the Apostles

Acta Petri (syriace)

Standard abbreviation: Hist. Sim. Ceph.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 252; CANT 200

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Compiled by F. Stanley Jones, California State University, Long Beach ([email protected])

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Jones, F. Stanley. “History of Simon Cephas, Chief of the Apostles.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/history-of-simon-cephas-chief-of-the-apostles/.

Created February 2019. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

As the author explains in his preface, Hist. Sim. Ceph. is largely an epitome of earlier (Syriac) accounts of Peter that the author compiled for the church’s lectionary to be read at the yearly celebration of Peter’s martyrdom. The author explains that a selection of episodes has been made. After remarks about the state of the world that brought on the incarnation (disobedience from Adam onwards), the author draws mainly on the canonical Acts of the Apostles to describe the early mission of the church, with unusual attention paid to God’s role in bringing the disciples, who want to stay in Jerusalem and associate with only the Jews, to missionize among the Gentiles. God turns away and a persecution ensues to scatter the apostles among the nations. The success of this mission causes the devil to raise up Simon Magus against the church; Simon has great success in Palestine. Acts’ account of Simon is supplemented here with detailed information on the Magus (once a disciple of Dositheus, but soon he usurped the sect) from the Syriac version of the Pseudo-Clementine Recognition; an impressively long list of Simon’s self-adulatory claims is compiled. After Peter rebukes Simon several times, Simon heads to Rome, and Peter follows. For Peter’s first days in Rome, the author apparently draws on another known Syriac account of Peter called the Preaching of Simon Cephas in the City of Rome (Pre. Pet. Rome). The author then adjoins other episodes about Peter and Simon in Rome from the Greek Acts of Peter. The scenes demonstrate Peter’s superiority over Simon, both in raising the dead as well as in causing Simon to fall after his flight over Rome; Simon is stoned by the city. Hist. Sim. Ceph. ends with further chapters from Acts Pet. that document Peter’s famous Quo vadis vision of Christ (Christ walks toward him with a cross on his way to suffer again because Peter is too weak), his crucifixion (upside down, as requested), and burial. Then follow a few closing remarks; some of these—namely, an attribution to Clement and some details about his writing career (including translating the Epistle of the Hebrews from Hebrew to Greek)—appear to be distinctive to the manuscript used for the editio princeps and are thus likely to be secondary.

The most significant aspect of this text is its value as a witness to the body of the Acts of Peter, which is preserved mostly only in a Latin translation found in a single Latin manuscript. In particular, Hist. Sim. Ceph. does not reflect the material on Paul and his mission in Rome that is found in the Latin manuscript of Acts Pet. and that has been suspected of being a later interpolation. Hist. Sim. Ceph. thus carries text-critical importance for the sources it employs.

Named historical figures and characters: Agerpus, Agrippina, Agropinos, Albinus, Anton (father of Simon Magus), Aphja (Eufemia), Augustus (emperor), Candace (queen), Chryse, Claudius (emperor), Clement (bishop), Cornelius the Centurion, Crithna (Nicaria), Dositheus, Drosina (Doris), Eubola, Gemellus, Helena (Selena), Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, John (the Baptist), Linus (bishop), Marcellus (senator), Mary (Virgin), Narcissus, Nero, Nicostratus, Papos, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Philip (deacon), Rachel (mother of Simon Magus), Satan, Simon Magus, Tiberius (emperor), Xanthippe (wife of Albinus).

Geographical locations: Caesarea, Ethiopia, Gehenna, Githnin, Jerusalem, Judea, Napolis, Palestine, Pheonicia, Rome, Samaria.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Syriac (BHO 935)

Karkūk, Chaldean Archdiocese of Karkūk, 213, fols. 71^v–93^r (1723)

London, British Library, Or. 9391, pp. 331–67 (1890)

Trichur, Chaldean Syrian Church, Syr. 9, fols. 149^v–163^v (1615)

Urmia, Oroomia Mission Library, 103, item 9 (1715) ~ now lost

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. sir. 597, fols. 50^r–55^v (17th cent.) ~ fragmentary

Bedjan, Paul. Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum. 7 vols. Paris: Otto Harrassowitz, 1890–1897. (editio princeps based on a copy of a manuscript from Karkūk in the possession of Ignazio Guidi—possibly Karkūk 213—in vol. 1, p. 1–33 with errata p. 544).

Guidi, Ignazio. “Bemerkungen zum ersten Bande der syrischen Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum.” ZDMG 46 (1892): 744–58 (corrections of Bedjan’s edition).

Eastman, David L. “History of Shimeon Kepha the Chief of the Apostles.” Pages 103–17 in The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul. WGRW 39. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015 (partial text and translation based on edition of Bedjan).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Jones, F. Stanley. “The History of Simon Cephas, the Chief of the Apostles.” Pages 371–402 in vol. 1 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.

3.3 General Works

Baumstark, Anton. Die Petrus- und Paulusacten in der literarischen Überlieferung der syrischen Kirche. Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1902 (pp. 40–44).

Callon, Callie. “Revisiting the Date of the Acts of Peter: Engaging with Potential New Evidence from the History of Simon Cephas.” JECS 31.4 (2023): 403–30.

Nau, François. “La version syriaque inédite des martyres de S. Pierre, S. Paul et S. Luc.” ROC 3 (1898): 39–57, 151–67.

Peeters, Paul. “Notes sur la légende des apôtres S. Pierre et S. Paul dans la littérature syrienne.” AnBoll 21 (1902): 121–40.